And Then There's You
by StarshineGoomba
Summary: AU/High School Fic. Two best friends are both in love with their other best friend. How will this once extremely tight trio deal when the secret comes out? What sort of wacky hijinx with they get into with their friends? And what did happen to the girl who disappeared ten years ago? Rated "Teen" for mild swearing, and mentions of drinking and sex.
1. Chapter 1

**Another new story! This is new for me, so I apologize ahead of time if anything isn't up to par. I've always enjoyed high school fics, but this will be my first time writing one. I hope that everyone likes it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not any of the current or former WWE Superstars and Divas used in this story. I do, however, own Levi and Mary Williams, as well as the plot. Alex Hardy is property of shiki94, she is allowing me to borrow her for the story.**

* * *

"So are you going to tell her how you feel this year?" Dustin Rhodes stood in his younger brother, Cody's, doorway.

"I can't," Cody sighed as he finished tying his shoes and picked up his backpack.

"Why not?" Dustin tilted his head.

"Because Ted is in love with her, too," Cody frowned as he pushed passed his brother, heading out to the car.

Normally, Dustin was happy to go to school. Especially seeing how this was his senior year, but seeing his younger brother feeling so dejected really brought down his mood. They went to a small school where literally everyone knew everyone. There were less than thirty people in the upcoming graduating class, and that was if everyone made it through the school year. It was a rather boring little town in the mid-west. Nothing really ever happened, and no one really expected it to.

Dustin drove his brother to school and soon after getting out of the car, they met up with Cody's best friend, Ted DiBiase, Jr. Ted was just staring ahead like a zombie, not realizing that his friends had walked up to him. Dustin wove his hand in front of Ted's face as Cody nudged him in the ribs. "Oh... hey guys..." Ted blinked out of his trance.

"Mind sharing what has you so intrigued that you've potentially put yourself in harms way?" Dustin chuckled.

Ted pointed to the front steps of the school where all of their friends had gathered. The Rhodes brothers looked up to see Trish Stratus, Amy Dumas, John Cena, Kofi Kingston, Tamina Snuka, Maryse Ouellete, Mike Mizanin, Kaitlyn Bonin, Nattie Neidhart, Tyson Kidd, Zack Ryder, Phil Brooks, Daniel Bryan, Evan Bourne, Dolph Ziggler, Justin Gabriel, and Levi Williams. Levi's twin sister, Mary was sitting on the wall next to the stairs. No one had seen the Williams siblings all summer. Their parents had taken them to Europe for the entire break. Mary was obviously talking about her summer, being the more vocal twin. She was talking loudly and using her hands to gesture and over emphasize nearly every word.

"She cut her hair," Dustin mused softly.

"There's more," Cody scratched his chin. "I just can't put my finger on it."

"I think that she, you know," Ted stammered a little, "grew up."

"Yeah, she does look hotter than when we last saw her," Cody blurted out as his brother grabbed both him and Ted by their collars, dragging them up to their friends.

When Mary saw Ted and the Rhodes brothers, her eyes lit up. "There's my boys!" she squealed, jumping off of the wall and running over to them, hugging each of them before their friends got a chance to greet them.

After they finished with the greeting and brief catch up, Mary walked back to the stairs, kissing Phil on the lips softly before taking her place on the wall once more.

As Dustin slipped his arms around his girlfriend, Kaitlyn's, waist he looked to see the heartbroken look on both Cody and Ted's faces. He knew that they both should have known better. Mary had already dated a good number of the guys in the student body, but none of them ever stuck. That didn't, however, stop the best friends, who both happened to be in love with her, from feeling the way that they did when they saw her with another boy.

Just as Mary was about to continue, she was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Now I know that you are not going on like we're still not here." Bayley Martinez walked up and hugged everybody before sitting on the wall with Mary as AJ Lee, Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, Drew McIntyre, Jojo Offerman, Brad Maddox, Alex Riley, and Emma Dashwood walked up with her.

Mary smiled brightly as the first bell rang. "Now that we have our freshmen with us, it looks like we can start the new year." Everyone filed inside of the building, going to their homerooms to get ready for the first day of school. Little did they know, it was going to be a long year. At least they were going to have fun with whatever may come their way.

* * *

**Yes, I know that was an extremely short chapter, but it was just an establishing point. There will be more in the upcoming chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

Merrigold, Wisconsin. The place you go to hide from the normal. Population, 274. Ten miles east of Madison. Too small to even show up on the state maps. Just... there. Most of the students in the secondary school were children of people who worked in Madison, but preferred to not have their children be in such a large school system. One building, less than one hundred students, sixth through twelfth grade. This was the type of school where if you were at least decent at any given sport, you could be varsity in the sixth grade. Everyone knew everyone, and there were no secrets. The strangest things about Merrigold was the politics of the school. The uptight, snobby bullies of the school, whom would be the popular, preppy kids in most schools, were in the minority there. What most high schools in America would consider "freaks" were the popular kids in this school, and Mary Williams was their queen bee.

"I guess that Mary is dating Phil now," Emma stated softly as she walked to the cafeteria with AJ, Bayley, Heath, and Drew.

"Do you think that it will be just like the others?" Drew chuckled.

"What?" Bayley giggled. "Just another guy trying to get what the others couldn't?"

"Phil isn't like that, though," AJ pouted as they paid for their lunches. "If anything, he's probably trying to protect her from the pervs."

Being the most popular girl in school, Mary had dated just about every guy in the school. At the same time, she was still a virgin. If any of the boys tried saying differently, she could easily kick their asses. This being known because she had twice in the past. By the time her sophomore year had began, many of the guys that she hadn't dated yet were caught whispering in the halls, discussing their game plan to be the one who finally swiped her v-card.

As everyone sat down, Mary sat on Phil's lap. None of the administrators in the room even batted an eyelash at their public display of affection. Ted and Cody sat furthest away, preferring to _not_ have a front row seat to seeing Mary with her latest beau. Unlike Cody, Ted was completely unaware that his best friend also had feelings for the same girl that he did. Cody wanted to keep it that way, feeling that Ted was better for her. It was just a matter of if Ted would ever make his move.

"So I know that I had the best summer ever, but did anyone do anything interesting here while I was away?" Mary chirped as she looked around at her friends.

"Our families went down to Florida for two weeks and we went to Disney World," Maryse shrugged as she leaned into her boyfriend, Mike. Mary had briefly dated Mike when she was in the eighth grade, but seeing as how their families did everything together, it was only a matter of time before he and Maryse got together.

"We went to Canada?" Nattie laughed.

"Canada?" Mary tilted her head.

"Yes," Tyson nodded. "We went through all of the tourist spots in the U.P., and into Sault, Canada on the Tom Sawyer riverboat."

"That's sad," Mary sighed with a frown. "Anything else?"

"I did Broadway and Niagara," Trish looked up, pumping her fist into the air.

"We have a winner!" Mary exclaimed as everyone clapped. After everyone calmed down, she looked around at all of her friends. "So everyone stayed here in Merrigold and Madison all summer?" She blinked as everyone nodded. "Wow... we suck."

…

Population 275.

Mary walked into physics class after lunch with Dustin to see someone they didn't already know sitting in the front row. She tilted her head as she walked over to the new person. "Hi, I'm Mary," she held out her hand with a smile.

The other girl looked up at her with a snarl. "I don't need any welcoming committee," she stated through a heavy accent.

Mary shrugged as Nikki and Brie Bella pushed passed her sitting next to the new girl. Brie, the nicer of the identical twins not part of Mary's group, looked back at Mary. "All we know is that her name is Aksana, and she's from Lithuania."

"Right," Mary looked to Dustin before they took their spots in the back of the room. They were joined by Maryse, Kofi, Tamina, Daniel, and Evan. They chatted until Mr. Finlay appeared in the front of the room, demanding their attention.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, as far as first days went. The only homework they received was from Mr. Heenan in World History. Thankfully, it was only a little reading, with a warning that they would be quizzed on it the next week. Almost everyone had that class, so they agreed to get together that weekend and discuss everything in the reading. That way, not everyone had to actually read it.

Cody let out a dejected sigh as he watched Mary and Phil walk off together after she finished cheerleading practice. Typically, everyone without an after school job stuck around after school until all sports practices and other clubs were let out. It was just something that had been done for years at Merrigold Secondary School, so no one really thought anything of it. Cody didn't play football with Ted and his brother, so he just sat in the bleachers during the practice.

Dustin nudged his brother after unlocking the doors to his car. "At least she isn't with Orton."

Cody tilted his head, blinking a few times as he took in what his brother had just said. There was a short list of guys at their school whom they didn't want to see Mary with, and Randy Orton was on the top of that list. He was known as the "Virgin Killer" in the halls at school. Mary was the perfect target for someone like him. She may have been able to remain true to herself in the promise that she would wait until she was ready with all of the other boys she had dated, but Randy had all of the tools to change that. Despite having tried a number of times in the past, Mary's friends only feared it was a matter of time before she gave in and started dating him. "Yeah... you're right," Cody nodded as he got into the car.

When the Rhodes brothers arrived at home, a moving truck had just pulled in at the old Vachon house next door to them. The brothers walked over to the truck to see if their new neighbors needed any help. The father appeared to be taking a break on the porch as the kids continued unpacking and bringing everything inside. Dustin walked up to the two boys, with a wave. "Hi, I'm Dustin Rhodes, and this is my brother, Cody."

"I'm Matt Hardy and this is Jeff," the older of the other two brothers introduced himself. "And that..." he motioned to their younger sister, who was nodding to the music playing on her iPod, "that's Alexis, but she likes to go by Alex." He nudged Alex, who took out one of her ear buds, looking up. "Lexi, this is Cody and Dustin Rhodes, they live next door."

Alex looked up with a soft smile, "hey guys." After making eye contact with Cody for a moment, she quickly looked away, blushing.

Dustin, along with Matt and Jeff chuckled before Dustin spoke up again. "We just got home from school, and there is still a bit before our mom will have dinner ready. Did you guys need any help?"

"Sure," Matt nodded. "The boxes are all marked. Have you ever been in the house?"

"Yeah, but it's been a while. It was actually on the market for years," Dustin noted as he grabbed a box out of the back of the truck, handing it to Cody before picking up another one.

"Oh yeah?" Jeff raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"About ten years ago, the Vachon's daughter, Luna, went missing. After a few months of finding absolutely nothing, they just couldn't take it anymore. They moved away from town, and we haven't heard from them since," Dustin filled the Hardy brothers in on their new home's history.

"So did they ever find her?" Alex walked over to him, grabbing another box of her things.

Dustin shook his head. "There was a trail a few years back, but it went no where."

"That's sad," Alex pouted, seeing that Cody had a box that was labeled as hers. She looked up at Dustin, shaking her head before looking to Cody. "C'mon, you get to see my room."

Cody went pale as he realized what his brother had done to him, but followed Alex inside and up to her room anyway. When he realized that Alex had picked out Luna's room, he froze in the doorway as memories flooded his mind.

Alex looked back to see Cody's face as he slowly made his way in, setting down the box. "This was her room, wasn't it?"

Cody nodded slowly. "She used to baby-sit us. She was really nice, but her parents hated her boyfriend."

"What happened to him?" Alex walked back over to Cody before they walked out into the hallway.

"You know... he left town around the same time. He was older, so everyone shrugged it off as him moving away, like everyone else does as soon as they get a chance," Cody looked over to Alex like she had the most brilliant idea ever.

"Well then, there is the third option for where she has been this entire time. They probably ran away together and got married," Alex shrugged as they made their way down the stairs.

"What are the other two options?" Cody raised an eyebrow.

"Dead and buried in the woods, or kidnapped and locked up in some psychopath's basement," Alex smirked.

"That's it," Matt chuckled, shaking his head. "No more horror movies for you."

"But Matty," Alex pouted, batting her eyelashes.

"Look at what it's doing to your mind," Matt looked to his younger sister sternly.

"She's actually nothing compared to our friend Mary," Dustin smirked. "I have a feeling the two of you would get along famously."

Cody nodded in agreement. "How do you feel about cheerleading?"

"Are you serious?" Alex sputtered, her eyes going wide.

"It's not what you think," Cody laughed.

"How could it possibly be different?" Alex put her hands on her hips.

"Everything is different here," Dustin smiled. "You'll see."

Dustin and Cody helped the Hardy siblings unpack until their mother called them home for dinner. Dustin shook hands with Matt once more before heading home. "So we'll be seeing you at school?"

"Yeah, we'll be starting tomorrow," Matt nodded. "I assume everyone goes to the same school here?"

"From sixth grade on up," Dustin nodded as he and Cody made their way back to their house.

Merrigold, Wisconsin. Population 279.

* * *

**Quick note: When Tyson mentioned "The U.P.", he was referring to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was once a part of Wisconsin.**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, the Hardy siblings followed the Rhodes brothers to school. When they got out of their cars, Mary saw them from her spot on the front steps. When she saw Jeff, she was very intrigued. Sure, all three siblings were dressed in similar fashion, but there was just something about Jeff's multicolored locks that drew her in. She took their attire, as well as the fact that they walked up with Cody and Dustin, and smiled.

"It looks like we might have new friends," Phil grinned as he slipped his arms around Mary's waist.

"That must be the Hardys," Evan looked over to them. "My mom finally sold the old Vachon house."

"Which would explain why they're with Dustin and Cody," Kaitlyn smiled as she walked over to her boyfriend.

Dustin kissed Kaitlyn 'hello' before walking up to the group and introducing their new friends to everyone. The three new members slid right into the group as if they had been there for years. Alex was the most shy out of the group, but she fit in with the other freshman quite nicely.

"So Alex," Mary looked up to the new girl after everyone got to know each other for a few minutes with a grin. "You're coming to cheerleading practice, right?"

"So that's really a thing here?" Alex looked around to the girls, who looked nothing like stereotypical cheerleaders. "You are the school's cheer squad?"

"Well, there is only like five girls in the school that aren't in our group," Maryse chuckled.

"So we just powered our way in and took over," Nattie shrugged.

After a few moments of thinking it over, Alex nodded. "I'll check it out. Couldn't hurt."

…

After school, Alex sat in the bleachers outside with Cody, her brothers, and Phil, as Mary, Trish, Amy, Tamina, Maryse, Kaitlyn, Nattie, Jojo, Emma, and Bayley walked out to the side of the field while the football team practiced. None of them had their hair pulled up, like it was required of all cheerleaders on Glee, as well as seen on all of the "Bring it On" movies. They all wore black, low cut, crop tops with either denim cut-offs or leggins. This _could_ be alright for practice, but something told Alex that this was close to what their actual uniforms may have looked like. Mary stood in the center as they lined up, the red streaks in her hair showing brightly in the afternoon sun. There was definitely something different about their routines. It made Alex think of the cheerleaders in Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. Sure, they had school spirit, and they were there to support the football team, but there was an edge about them. Their cheers sounded more like something out of a punk song, rather than pop or hip-hop, like you would expect out of a cheerleading squad. They definitely made there own version work. Alex liked it.

Towards the end of their practice, Jeff looked over to his new friends. "I almost feel like I could mosh to these cheers."

"Right?" Phil chuckled, smiling brightly. "That's my girl."

Cody nodded in agreement. "Mary was the one who was bold enough to change things up for the squad. They were doing typical routines before she stepped up and took over last year."

"I think that I could possibly get into this," Alex nodded as she noticed the football team heading inside just as Mary huddled the girls around one last time for a special cheer.

Mary laughed as the girls fell back in line, and she placed a fedora on her head. "Now just imagine the rest of the girls are sporting the cute, trendy head wear, as well." She called up into the stands. She tilted her hat up from behind, smirking as the girls started to do a burlesque type dance for everyone. Once they were finished, Phil had made his way down to the field. Mary smirked as she ran up to her boyfriend and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. She kissed him with a grin, before hopping back down.

Phil chuckled, playfully slapping Mary's butt. "Go get changed. I'll take you out for a burger."

Mary nodded with a grin. "See everyone in ten." She ran off to the locker room with the rest of the girls.

Matt looked over to Cody, tilting his head as he took in the expression of the younger boy. "You like her, don't you?"

Cody's head snapped up. "Huh? Who?"

Matt chuckled, shaking his head. "The head cheerleader. I'm surprised she's not with the starting quarterback."

"She already dated Cena for a couple of months last year," Cody shrugged.

"Yeah?" Matt nodded in thought. "What happened to that?"

"Same thing that happens in all of Mary's relationships," Cody looked on to Phil as the other boy talked to Jeff and Alex. "She didn't give it up."

Matt nodded, scratching his chin. "So is she a tease, or...?"

"Nah," Cody played with the hem of his shirt. "She's just waiting until it feels right for her. Okay, that was a lie, with Cena, it was a tad more complicated. I'm sure you'll find out in time."

Matt nodded once more as the football team started heading out toward the parking lot. "That's respectable."

…

Nearly a half hour later most of the group was sitting in the local diner, a few blocks from the school. Mary and Phil shared a booth with Nattie and Tyson while everyone else sat at tables. As soon as they pulled up in their cars, the waitress had already sat down drinks for everyone, except the Hardys, and the cook was already working on their orders. As they all settled down, Mary yelled over the crowd to the kitchen. "Thanks, Sable! We've got a few newbies today."

Sable Mero smiled as she walked back out to the counter. "Alright honey, I'll let Marc know." She walked over to where the Hardys were sitting and took their orders before heading back into the kitchen to help her husband prepare everyone's dinner.

"So is this a normal thing for you guys?" Matt looked around after their food have arrived.

Amy shook her head, stealing a fry off of his plate. "Just on Wednesdays. All of our parents have OK'd it."

Trish nodded as she sat back, sipping her soda. "Then after games, we all go out for pizza together."

Matt smiled, "I'll let our dad know."

After everyone finished eating and chatted for nearly an hour afterward they all made their way back out to their cars, the freshmen and sophomores who didn't live within walking distance piling in the vehicles of the upperclassmen. After saying goodbye to Phil, Mary and Levi started walking home, just as Randy Orton pulled up in front of them.

"Get lost kid," Randy looked to Levi. "I want to talk to your sister."

Levi stood in front of Mary protectively as Cody saw Randy and told his brother to stop. Phil was already long gone, as well as most of the rest of their friends. Still not really knowing his way around, Matt was waiting and noticed that the Rhodes brothers had gotten back out of their car. Matt looked to where the commotion was starting, recognizing Randy from a couple of classes. "Crap, it's Orton."

"What level of bad are we talking here?" Jeff looked to his older brother.

Matt let out a sharp breath, "they call him the 'Virgin Killer'."

"So Mary is..." Jeff blinked in disbelief.

"According to Cody, anyway," Matt nodded. "Plus this town is small enough to not have secrets."

"Or a million," Alex shrugged.

Back to where Mary and Levi were, Randy was getting out of his car, getting ready to rough Levi up to get to his twin sister. Mary sneered, not backing down. "What if I don't want to talk to you, Orton?"

"Oh you will," Randy smirked, licking his lips.

Mary sighed, rolling her eyes as she felt Cody bring an arm around her waist and slowly pulled her away. "I most definitely will not. I will never want anything to do with you."

Randy growled as he pushed Levi out of the way and attempted to yank Mary out of Cody's grasp. "I will have you, Williams."

Dustin pushed his way in front of Randy, protecting his younger brother and his friend. "I believe the lady said 'no', Orton. Back off."

"No one says 'no' to me. I will get you Mary. No matter what it takes," Randy tried making another move to get to Mary.

"Hey!" Sable walked out of the diner, phone in hand. "You better not be making any trouble, Orton. I just called Sheriff Hemsley."

Randy started backing away, holding his hands up in surrender. He went to his car as Cody walked Mary over to Dustin's car. Mary sat on Dustin's hood as Randy drove away. Cody wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug.

"Want me to call Phil?" Dustin rubbed her shoulder. "I'm sure that Mike would be more than happy to turn around and bring him back."

"No..." Mary shook her head. "I need to get home, though. We promised that we'd watch Chelsea, so our parents could go out."

Dustin nodded as he sent a text to Trish, letting her know what happened and asked her to re-route Ted to the Williams house, knowing that Mary would want him there. "I'll tell you what," Dustin took a deep breath. "I'll pull the same thing I did last time. Cody, you're staying over with Levi. Ted will be there, as well."

"The last time?" Alex walked over to them, biting her lip.

Mary nodded as Cody stepped back, still holding her hand for support. "This is starting to become a regular thing."

"If I may," Jeff looked to his new friends. "How did this all start with Orton?"

"In the case of just me, I'm assuming?" Mary looked over to him. "Well, you see, Randy Orton and John Cena used to be best friends. That is, until what Randy did while I was dating John. He was rather physical in his attempt."

"Thankfully, our Mary is still the same," Dustin smiled softly. "She just gets a little shaken whenever Orton tries to confront her like that."

Matt nodded, "well now that we know, she's got three more people looking out for her. You can count on us, Mare."

Mary nodded with a soft smile as she slid off the hood of Dustin's car. "Thanks."

"You good to walk?" Dustin looked to her with concern.

Mary nodded. "I've got our brothers with me."

Cody smiled as he held Mary close. "I can just get a change of clothes from Levi. We're the same size."

Dustin nodded, looking over to Matt. "Ready to get going?"

Matt nodded as he, Jeff, and Alex all got back into their car and headed home for the night.

Mary sat on her bed with Cody as they waited for Ted. As soon as their other best friend walked into the room, he sat on the other side of her, pulling her into his arms. Now alone with her best friends, Mary finally broke down, sobbing in each of their arms. They eventually all fell asleep in Mary's bed as she calmed down a few hours later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the small break, everyone! I hope that you enjoyed "In His Hands" during the small bit of writer's block that I had with this story.**

* * *

Luckily, Jeff and Kathryn didn't check in their eldest daughter's room when they got home that night. Ted and Cody had fallen asleep on either side of Mary after they had calmed her down. The four teenagers came downstairs for breakfast together after Kathryn had served her youngest child. Ten year-old Chelsea's face lit up as she pulled Cody into the seat next to her, causing Mary to giggle as she, Levi, and Ted all sat around the table together.

"Morning honey," Kathryn kissed her daughter's forehead. "Morning boys." She acknowledged the other boys before adding to the eggs that she was making for Mary and Levi. Ted and Cody had spent the night many times over the years, so seeing them didn't phase her at all.

After getting ready for school, the teens all walked together after saying goodbye to Chelsea. On their way, Mary smirked, nudging Cody. "Looks like someone's got an admirer."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cody looked down, blushing.

"C'mon man, we all saw it," Ted chuckled.

Cody sighed, nodding. "What do I do?"

"Just be nice, and let her down gently," Mary smiled. "This is her first crush."

"I'll do my best," Cody bit his lip as they walked onto the lot to meet up with their friends.

As they walked up, Phil was staring daggers at Mary. She swallowed visibly, walking over to her boyfriend. "Hey babe. I guess you heard."

"I see you were well taken care of," Phil looked to Ted and Cody. "You couldn't even call me?"

"I didn't call them," Mary bit her lip. "Cody just happened to be there when it happened."

"You still..." Phil stopped himself, scrubbing his hand over his face. "Let's not do this here." He took Mary's hand, pulling her inside the building.

"Did that really just happen?" John Cena sighed as he walked up to the group.

Mike shook his head in disbelief, "we all know what happened. She has been really close to Ted and Cody since we were little. She hasn't been with Phil long. Of course she's going to go to them for comfort."

It wasn't a surprise that by the time everyone had gotten to school the next morning that everyone had heard that Randy had confronted Mary once again. Not wanting to discuss it any further, everyone started talking about anything and everything else. A close eye was kept on Randy by everyone who had classes with him all morning. When Mary didn't show up at lunch, everyone got worried. Cody volunteered to look for her, eventually finding her out back, smoking a cigarette and crying.

"Mare..." Cody bit his lip as he approached her.

Mary looked over to her best friend, not bothering to put her cigarette out. "Oh, hey... so they sent you?"

"I volunteered," Cody shrugged. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" Mary sighed, taking a long drag off of her cigarette.

"He broke up with you?" Cody guessed.

Mary nodded, flicking her cigarette away. "I deserved it."

"Hey, hey," Cody wrapped his arms around her. "We all know what Randy did to you. The whole group knows that you feel most safe with Ted and myself. Of course you were going to want us there for you."

Mary nodded, "I was dating Evan the last time it happened. We stayed together for at least a month after that. How is it that he understood, but Phil couldn't?"

"I don't know, Mare. Phil doesn't deserve you. He proved that today," Cody pulled away just enough to cup her face and press a soft kiss to her lips.

Mary's eyes went wide as she pulled away from Cody in shock. "Code..."

"I... I'm sorry," Cody bit his lip and ran away.

Mary sighed, covering her face after watching Cody run away. That was Cody's first kiss. She cared about him a lot, but she had never thought to think of him like that. Still, she could have at least returned the kiss, to give him a better experience. She was too surprised to do that, though. She had suspected that Cody liked her for a long time, and that was all the conformation she needed to see that it was true. She sent out a couple of texts, just wanting to get away from everything, and walked away from the campus to cut classes for the rest of the day.

After football and cheerleading practice was over Alex raised an eyebrow as she watched Ted walk off with John. "I thought that Ted rode with Trish," the youngest Hardy sibling looked to her new friends after watching Trish drive off. She was even more confused that Cody had sat in Dustin's car, instead of with them in the stands. It was also quite obvious as to why Phil hadn't joined them that day.

"Ted isn't going home," Levi stated softly as he placed a hand on Alex's shoulder.

"So what is going on, exactly?" Alex looked genuinely concerned about her new friend.

"Well, my brother isn't talking," Dustin sighed, "but I believe it's safe to assume that Phil broke up with Mary for not personally telling him what happened last night."

"Which is silly, because we all know Mary was really starting to like Phil," Maryse frowned as she leaned into Mike.

"Exactly," Nattie nodded as she walked up with Tyson, hand in hand. "She was actually talking that she thought he may be the one."

"We have a feeling that Mary went to the same place that she always does when she's upset during school hours," Ted added as he threw his bag in the back of John's truck. "And since Cody's gone mute on us, I'm going to go make sure she's OK."

Alex nodded, "I really hope that she is. She's been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours."

Ted nodded as he got into John's truck, and John drove the younger boy to the pond near the school. They all knew where Mary went when she needed to just get away from the world, so it was easy to find her. He walked up to where Mary was sitting on a low branch of a tree overlooking the pond and sat next to her.

Without looking up, Mary offered her bottle of Watermelon Pucker to whomever had just sat next to her, figuring it was either Ted or Levi.

Ted took the bottle, taking a small drink as he prepared for whatever reason Mary had for leaving school before handing it back over. "So how was your day?" He slipped an arm around her in a comforting fashion.

Mary let out a soft laugh over hearing Ted's voice and his arm coming around her. "Well, Phil dumped me this morning... and Cody kissed me while he was trying to make me feel better at lunch."

Ted blinked, "so he..."

"I think that I knew," Mary nodded. "Ever since I helped him when he fell that out of that tree, back in seventh grade."

Ted nodded, "I remember that day. The big question here is, how do you feel?"

"How do I feel?" Mary let out a small laugh before taking a long drink and putting the cap back on the bottle before setting it aside. She then turned to Ted, bringing a hand to his cheek before leaning in and kissing him passionately.

Ted couldn't help but return the kiss, with the exact same amount of passion. When they pulled away, he nodded with a sigh. "I can see where this will be a problem."


	5. Chapter 5

"It's been a whole month," Nattie sighed as everyone sat together at lunch. Phil was now dating AJ, which was something no one even flinched at. It was the fact that Mary, Ted, and Cody all sat as far away from each other as possible ever since the day that Phil had broke up with Mary. None of them had said anything, so no one knew what had happened to split three best friends up. Football season was now over, and basketball was just starting up. For the most part, Mary and Ted were the same as they always were. It was just that when one of the others were around, they went all quiet.

"This is really starting to suck," Levi shook his head. "I've never seen my sister like this. She's actually even worse at home."

"Worse than this?" Daniel blinked, completely astonished.

Levi nodded, "she barely leaves her room. Mom and Dad can't even talk to her anymore."

"And if she's not talking to Ted and Cody, you would be the first one that she goes to," Evan sighed, dejected.

"You know," Amy smiled as she leaned into Matt. "Out of all of her exes, I think that you are the one who never really got over her."

"Who me?" Evan looked up with wide eyes.

"She's right," Trish smiled, looking over to the younger boy. "It's like you know that it wasn't meant to be, but part of you still likes her."

Evan took a deep breath, "okay, I admit it. Can you blame me, though? I'm sure that they won't admit it, but I bet that even some of the guys who have dated other girls since her still have some sort of feelings for her."

Everyone sat silently as John abruptly excused himself, heading out of the cafeteria. It was rather obvious that a point was just made with his actions. If Randy hadn't attacked Mary while she was with John, they would have been together a lot longer. Much like Evan, John hadn't dated anyone since Mary.

"I realize that I may be saying something stupid here, because I get how Mary is," Alex looked around at her friends, "but has anyone tried to talk to Ted or Cody?"

"I would but... I think I may know part of the problem," Dustin sighed as he got up and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Well, we can't just sit by and let this go on," Alex shook her head.

"Give it a try," Tyson nodded. "Cody seems to like you. It couldn't hurt."

…

After cheerleading practice Alex quickly got changed and joined Cody in the backseat of Dustin's car as he was doing homework. "Hey..." she said softly.

Cody looked up, "oh, hey Alex. Is practice already over?"

Alex nodded, "yeah, I just wanted to talk to you quickly before everyone else came out."

"Look, I know that you are new around here still, but there isn't really anything to talk about," Cody looked back to his book, refusing to acknowledge her any further.

"Really? So the fact that we all you know that you haven't spoken to your best friends in a month is nothing?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"It's complicated," Cody mumbled in response.

"So uncomplicate it, Cody. What happened that day?" Alex asked with a sincere look in her eyes, placing her hand on his.

"I'm in love with Mary," Cody sighed.

"Okay," Alex nodded slowly. "Was that so hard?"

"Well," Cody took a deep breath, slowly looking up, "I believe that Ted is in love with her, as well."

Alex winced, "that does make a little more sense. Now we just need to figure out why they aren't speaking, either."

Cody shrugged as Dustin got into the driver seat. "Can't really say. None of us knows what happened when Ted went to see Mary out at the pond."

"We'll figure it out, little brother," Dustin nodded as he started up his car. He then turned to look at Alex, "I'll give you a ride, little one. You live right next door, anyway."

Alex nodded as she waved at her brothers. "I don't think they'll mind."

…

Around midnight that night Cody looked out his window to see Alex looking through something on her bed. He knew that she would normally be sleeping, so he found himself curious. He pulled out his phone, sending a text to ask what she was doing.

Alex looked up after receiving the text, seeing Cody watching her in the window directly across from her. She quickly typed up a "can you come over?" before getting up and opening her window. She was suddenly thankful that there was a tree between their houses, so that Cody could climb across without anyone knowing.

Cody made his way from his room to Alex's, wearing only boxers and a t-shirt and went straight to her bed to see what she was looking at. "Where did you find this?"

Alex nodded toward the floorboard that she pulled up by her closet. "This is Luna's, isn't it?"

Cody sat down on Alex's bed, looking at the pictures. "Yeah, this is definitely hers. She was a really great girl, I miss her." He continued looking at the things in the box, eventually coming across a travel brochure and a couple of post cards for New Orleans. "I think that we have our first clue."

Alex looked at what was in Cody's hands. "So if she's alive, she might be in New Orleans?"

Cody shrugged, "it's a better lead than anyone has gotten over the years. Can I take this stuff? Her cousin will want to see it."

"Cousin?" Alex raised an eyebrow as there was a knock at her door.

Cody's eyes widened as he quickly dove under the bed as Alex's door opened. Jeff popped his head into the room, "what are you doing up, Lexi?"

Alex bit her lip, picking up one of the pictures from the box. "Do you remember the girl who used to live here, who disappeared?"

Jeff nodded as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "You can come out, Cody."

Cody let out a sigh of relief as he stood up. "Sorry."

"No, I get it. You knew the girl. I heard you say something about her cousin?" Jeff tilted his head.

Cody nodded, "yeah, Dolph's mother was Luna's father's sister. If nothing else, he'll be happy to have something that belonged to her."

"Then he should have it," Alex smiled.

"Agreed," Jeff nodded. "Both of you should get to bed, though. We'll get the box to Dolph in the morning."

Cody quickly nodded as he made his way back over to the window. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

…

The next morning Alex and Cody walked up to the steps with the box that Alex had found the night before. Alex smiled as she handed the box to Dolph.

Dolph raised an eyebrow as he took the box, "what's this?"

"Just open it, man," Cody smiled.

Dolph then opened the box, amazed at what was inside of it. "I really don't know what to say other than thanks."

"No problem," Alex smiled.

While Dolph was looking at the contents of the box, everyone gathered around him. Mary took this opportunity to pull Jeff inside to talk to him privately.

"Look, I know that you've probably heard a few things about me," Mary leaned against a row of lockers as she brought a hand to Jeff's face.

"So you're not with Ted?" Jeff smirked.

"No, and I don't see that happening any time soon, either. Ever since I first saw you, I have been nothing but intrigued by you," Mary licked her lips. "You are the perfect mix of hot and mysterious."

"Friday night after the game?" Jeff pressed his lips to his just before everyone started to come inside.

"Sounds perfect," Mary nodded as she slipped away from him, heading to her locker before going to her first class.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry that it's been a while since I updated. I hit a bit of a writer's block, but now it's back!**

* * *

"Seriously?" Cody stepped up next to Ted as they both approached the school the following Monday.

"I really don't know what to say," Ted sighed, not looking to his best friend, whom he hadn't spoken to in over a month. "I guess they went out Friday after the game."

"Yeah... they did," Dustin walked up next to them, following the younger boys' gaze to see Mary and Jeff making out on the stairs, where everyone would normally be gathered to chat before classes began.

"This is the quickest she's gotten this close to anyone," Phil raised his eyebrow as he walked up them, hand in hand with AJ.

"I'm not sure whether that's good or bad," Dustin sighed as the rest of the group walked up.

"I give up," Cody shook his head, pushing past everyone to go inside to head to his first class early to work on some homework.

"I..." Ted shook his head, turning away. "I can't," he walked away from the school, presumably not to attend that day.

"Well, I think we know what happened now," Nattie sighed.

"Poor Teddy looked completely shattered," Bayley pouted.

"Man, if I had known sooner," Phil shook his head.

Dustin patted Phil's shoulder. "I'm not sure how long Ted has liked her, but Cody has had a realistic view on his feelings the entire time." He looked around to the group as Alex slipped away, heading inside. "Everyone keep an eye on your phones. If we don't hear from Ted by the time practice is over, we'll send Maryse to find him."

Maryse nodded, "my parents would kill me if anything happened to him, but I do agree that we need to give him time."

While Dustin was discussing plans for the day, Alex made her way into the school, looking for Cody. She found him sitting in the library and sat down next to him. "Hi," she whispered.

Cody looked over to Alex with a smile, whispering back, "did I miss anything important?"

Alex frowned, nodding. "Ted left. I think that everyone knows now. What are you going to do?"

"Ask you to sit with me at lunch," Cody closed his book. "Then after that, I'd like to take you out on a proper date."

Alex blushed, looking down for a moment. She did like Cody, but she also knew how he felt about Mary. "Yes to both, but only if you're sure."

Cody nodded, placing his hand on Alex's. "I'm over Mary. I knew that it was never going to be. I thought that I had been giving her space to get with Ted, like I thought that she wanted, but I guess that I was wrong."

Alex sighed, wrapping her arms around Cody for a brief hug. "As long as you are OK. I know that I haven't been here for very long, but I've really come to know everything around here."

"It doesn't take much," Cody nodded as the first bell rang. He stood up, holding his hand out to her.

Alex took his hand, standing up next to him. "I'm glad we moved here. You guys are the best friends my brothers and I have ever made."

Cody smiled as they walked into the hall. "That really means a lot. The three of you have fit in quite nicely." He held her hand as he walked her to her first class. "I have enjoyed you and your brothers addition to the group. Especially you. I was beginning to think that I was going to stay single until I left this town."

"You really thought that you wouldn't eventually dated any of those other girls in our group? Some of the freshmen are really cute," Alex smirked.

"Nah," Cody blushed, shaking his head. "They all treat me like a brother. I don't think I would have wound up dating any of them," he smiled as they stopped in front of her class. "And I'm fine with that."

"Can we have her now?" Emma bounded up toward the door. "We've got a group project to work on."

"Of course," Cody smiled, kissing Alex's cheek. "See you ladies at lunch."

…

Maryse walked up to Ted after practices were over to find him sleeping by the pond where he had his talk with Mary a month before. She smiled as she saw him sleeping and knelt beside him, nudging him a little. "Êtes-vous d'accord, mon cousin? (Are you okay, cousin?)"

Ted slowly opened his eyes with a small sigh. "Désolé. Mon coeur fait mal. (Sorry. My heart just hurts.)"

Maryse smiled, nodding as she helped her cousin up. "You really like her, don't you?"

Ted nodded, "I have for a long time. I really believed that we were just going to give Cody some time, and then..."

Maryse sighed, "he's dating petit Alexis now. He's moved on from Mary."

"I guess that it doesn't matter now," Ted shrugged as they walked to Maryse's car.

"You'll get her," Maryse smiled as she unlocked the car, letting Ted in. "We all know how Mary is."

Ted shook his head as he got into the passenger side, buckling himself in, "but we also saw her tongue down Jeff's throat this morning."

"Ted, we're teenagers. Making out like that... I mean hell, I watched her make out with Mike like that while they were together. It's Mary," Maryse attempted to reason with Ted.

"It just really hurt," Ted finally gave in, letting out a sharp breath as he sat back.

"Just remember," Maryse smiled as she began to head to his house. "It's not about who she's with now. It's about who she ends up with."

Ted nodded. He knew that Maryse was right. If he really felt as strongly about Mary as he thought that he might, he could stand back and wait as Mary continued dating other boys. A couple of hours after he got home, he called Cody, and the best friends caught up. Just as quickly as everything fell apart, some things were starting to come back together. They agreed that Mary could come to them on their own. They missed their best friend, but they knew that she was well taken care of with Jeff.


	7. Chapter 7

Mary had heard about the reuniting of Ted and Cody after the public display of affection she had put on with Jeff in front of the school on Monday, as well as the joining of Cody with their new friend, Jeff's younger sister, Alex. A couple of days had gone by, and things were starting to go back to normal in the school. Ted and Cody were sitting together at lunch again, the only difference was that Mary had still been a few tables away with Jeff on Tuesday. By Wednesday, Mary realized just how much she missed her best friends, and she wanted the silence to end once and for all. She was late for lunch, after being held up by Mr. Douglas in Trigonometry. She was dashing down the hall when she ran into someone, causing both to fall over.

Mary looked up to see one of her old friends and cracked a half smile. "My bad."

Seth Rollins got up, tucking a strand of two toned hair behind his ear. He quickly looked around before holding his hand out to help Mary up. "You okay, Mare?"

Mary nodded. "My ass is a little sore, but I'll be fine."

"I could always add to that," a voice came up to them from the shadows.

"Orton wouldn't like it much," a second voice joined in. "But between the three of us, we could do worse damage than he could."

"I'm not touching her," Seth stood in front of Mary protectively.

Dean Ambrose stepped out of the shadows, rubbing at his nose, just as if he had done a couple lines of cocaine. "You know she deserves it, Rollins."

Roman Reigns followed behind Dean, shoving Seth away from Mary. "Believe that," he grunted.

Mary sighed, "seriously Dean? Still hung up on the fact that I barely let you feel me up while we were together? I was thirteen."

Just as the words escaped Mary's mouth, Dean's open palm came in contact with her cheek. "Shut up, bitch!" He then kneed her in the gut, while holding her up. "Just let it happen. I promise that you'll like it."

Mary whimpered loudly as Dean continued to hit her, struggling as he tried to remove her clothing. Watching as Seth was helplessly held back by Roman. Just as Dean almost successfully undid her pants, she saw a familiar face at the end of the hall, seeing relief in sight. "Edge!" she screamed out with her last good breath before nearly succumbing to Dean.

The school's security guard, Adam Copeland, turned toward the desperate scream. "Hey!" he charged toward the scene and pulled Dean off of Mary. He looked up as Roman ran away, leaving Seth to be able to pick Mary up. "Get her to the office. I'll find Reigns after getting Ambrose to Principal Hart."

Seth nodded, carrying Mary to the office. Just as they walked in, Nattie walked out from talking to her uncle, who happened to be the principal. Just as the blonde was about to ask what happened to her friend, Edge walked in with a struggling, enraged Dean. She shook her head, patting Seth on the shoulder with a nod before heading to the cafeteria.

As Nattie walked into the room where the group of friends had been waiting on both her and Mary, Ted and Cody slowly looked to each other, then over to Nattie. They could sense that something was wrong, and they knew that it had to do with Mary.

Nattie walked over to the table where Ted and Cody were sitting, chewing on her bottom lip. "Ambrose attacked Mary. She looks worse than..." she let her sentence float in the air, knowing that everyone knew she was referring to when she had been attacked by Randy.

After taking a moment for the news to sink in, the group all sprang to their feet heading out to their cars. They made their way to the hospital to check on Mary. They waited for nearly an hour before the doctor came out, walking up to Levi. After speaking for a minute, Levi nodded before turning to Ted and Cody, motioning for them to follow him. The three teens walked into the room where Mary was recovering in.

When they walked in, Mary looked up with a soft smile. "Just be careful with the hugs," she lifted up her shirt to show the bruising.

Ted and Cody made their way around to either side of the bed, gently hugging Mary. It was almost like everything was forgiven and forgotten without a single word. Ted sat on the bed as Cody stood beside the other side.

"I really missed you guys," Mary smiled, taking Ted's hand.

"It's been too long," Ted smiled as Cody nodded in agreement.

"Just so long as I've got you back," Mary stated weakly.

"You never really lost us," Ted leaned over, kissing her cheek.

Meanwhile, all of the rest of Mary's friends were all sitting together in the waiting room. They were all silent until Matt looked up. "This almost seems unexpected."

"Yeah, those three have never really bothered us," Dustin nodded.

"Actually, Seth carried her into the office. I don't think that he was a part of it," Nattie looked up.

"It's just odd that it took Dean this long," Mike shrugged.

After pausing for a moment, Jeff shifted awkwardly. "She dated him, too?"

"Yeah, both Seth and Dean, actually," Daniel nodded. "Seth used to be a part of our group."

"Dean recruited Seth after Mary broke Seth's heart last year," Zack finished the explanation.

Jeff looked around the room, realizing that Mary had made out with just about every guy in there, and a few more. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"You don't love her, do ya bro?" Matt looked over to his younger brother.

"I care about her, but..." Jeff heaved a sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I guess that I felt like I was protecting her from guys like Orton and Ambrose."

Trish got up and walked over to the seat next to Jeff. "I think that you know what you need to do."

Jeff nodded with a sigh, getting up and walking down the hall in the direction that Levi, Ted, and Cody had just went to visit Mary. He looked up to see them just after leaving the sight of the group.

"Oh hey, we were just coming to get you," Levi took a deep breath, pointing to one of the rooms. "She's in there, she wants to talk to you."

* * *

**Yes, ending that one on a bit of a cliffhanger. I just felt like that was the perfect place to end that one. I'm a little torn on what story to write next, so if you could drop by my profile and do the little poll that I put up, that would be great. The options are the titles of the story, with brief description. Thanks for your help! Please R&amp;R!**


	8. Chapter 8

Jeff slowly walked into the room where Mary was resting in, closing the door behind himself. He walked over to the bed, slowly taking in the injuries his girlfriend had by the hands of one of her many exes. They had only been a couple for a few days, but the look in both of their eyes was obvious. "Hey beautiful," Jeff smiled as he carefully took Mary's hand.

Mary nodded, gently rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand. "I can honestly say that I did not see that one coming."

"How long ago did you date Ambrose?" Jeff took a deep breath, sitting next to the bed.

"Towards the end of seventh grade," Mary bit her lip, trying not to think of what had just happened to her nearly an hour prior.

"That..." Jeff paused in thought, "really makes the fact that he waited this long to do anything about it seem even stranger. Did anything happen to trigger the attack?"

"Aside from me being alone in the wrong place, at the wrong time?" Mary sighed. "No, I have no idea why he chose today."

"Maybe that was all it took," Jeff suggested. "It doesn't appear that you are alone often. You are the coolest version of a social butterfly that I have ever seen."

Mary blushed momentarily, looking down at the finger sized bruises on her arm. "Thanks. You have been a really great friend."

After a few moments of silence, Jeff nodded, taking a deep breath. "I think you just expressed how we both feel."

"So friends? I'd rather not lose you completely," Mary looked up at Jeff, smiling softly.

"I'm definitely not going anywhere," Jeff squeezed her hand gently. "I care about you a lot, but I believe that we can agree that this boyfriend/girlfriend thing isn't going anywhere for us."

Mary held out her free arm, signaling that she wanted a hug. "Definitely. You really are a valuable part of this group."

…

Later that night, Ted sat upon Mary's bed after she had been released. After getting beat up by one of her classmates, her parents didn't argue when she asked if one of her male friends could stay with her. Once they were comfortable, Mary took a deep breath, looking over to one of her best friends. "He tried..."

A flash of deep, red anger flared up in Ted's eyes. "He _what_?"

"Yeah..." Mary hung her head in shame. "He got as far as getting my pants undone, but I saw Edge in time."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Ted sighed, wrapping his arms around Mary's tiny, tender frame. "Did you even include it in your report?"

"Yes, but I didn't want everyone knowing. Seth helped me button my jeans, so no one would happen to see me in the halls or office like that. But... Dean didn't actually get anything," Mary slowly looked up at Ted.

"What do you mean?" Ted raised an eyebrow.

"It's all still for you. He didn't even get a chance to touch me there," Mary leaned in, gently kissing his cheek.

"Me?" Ted swallowed visibly.

"Not like right now, or any time soon, but yes... I think that I chose you a while ago," Mary shrugged. "I just didn't realize it until today."

"So... no pressure?" Ted looked down at her.

Mary giggled, shaking her head. "Yes, Ted. I want you to do me right now. Pretend that I'm not all bruised up and that there is a strong chance that my whole family could hear us."

Ted rolled his eyes, kissing her forehead. "Remind me why I love you so much?"

"Opposites attract?" Mary shrugged.

"I guess that's as good of a theory as any," Ted chuckled. "So what now? What about Jeff?"

"We already broke up," Mary sighed. "We both could tell that it was going no where. I just don't want to rush right into things."

"It's not like I was going to try dating anyone else," Ted nodded as he pulled the covers around them.

…

"You think she's going to be OK?" Alex rested her head on Cody's shoulder as they sat on the branch between their bedrooms.

"She's Mary Williams. There isn't anything that I haven't seen her bounce back from ten times stronger," Cody smiled.

"I can see why you liked her so much," Alex mused.

Cody took a deep breath, pausing for a moment as he gathered his words. "For me, Mary was like the unattainable celebrity crush. Sure, you want them, but you know deep inside that you will never get them. That was how it was for me. I knew all along what I was feeling. She's a great girl, and the best friend anyone could ask for. And then there's you..." he gently rubbed Alex's arm.

"Me?" Alex looked up her boyfriend.

Cody nodded, "you are my first girlfriend, Alex. I've never even kissed a girl, except for..."

"Tell me, Cody," Alex gently coaxed him, bringing her fingers to his chin.

"I tried to kiss Mary the day that Phil dumped her. That's the reason she left school," Cody looked to Alex with sad eyes. "She didn't kiss me back, though. I caught her by surprise."

"You deserve better, Cody," Alex stated in a soft tone. Without waiting for him to respond, she leaned in, pressing her lips to his. The kiss was innocent, but for the first time in Cody's life, it was mutual. Which was more than enough for him.

…

A week later, Dolph was rushing through the halls, looking for his friends when he blindly ran into someone. He stopped in his tracks, sliding his phone into his pocket as he reached out to help the person up. "I'm so sorry."

Before he got a chance to see who it was, the person grabbed his hand, slamming him into the nearby lockers as the person rose to their feet. "Maybe you should watch yourself before encountering Aksana," the exchange student flipped her hair and wiped her lips after referring to herself in the third person.

"Geez," Dolph favored his shoulder as he composed himself. "I said that I'm sorry, Aksana. I've got things on my mind."

"Well, Aksana doesn't need your 'sorry'. Aksana would take a date, though." Askana smirked before planting a messy kiss on Dolph's lips.

Dolph stood in shock for a moment after returning the kiss. "I can do that."

"Good," Aksana nodded. "Saturday night. Aksana wants a nice dinner before what she's going to give to you." She blew him a kiss before strutting down the hall.

"Well, someone's getting laid this weekend," Zack chuckled as he patted his best friend's shoulder.

"I'd argue, but I got the same thing out of that," Dolph smirked. "Where is everyone? I've got news."

"Mary is still at home, but everyone else is in the courtyard," Zack started that way.

Dolph nodded as he followed the other boy and got everyone's attention once they reached their friends. "Well, first off... my Aunt and Uncle's funeral is tomorrow after school. Whoever wants to attend, just let me know. Also..." he paused, taking a deep breath. "I think that Luna is alive."

* * *

**A cliffhanger? Yes. It's what I do best. Thank you for checking this out. Please R&amp;R, then hop on over to my profile to let me know which story that you'd like to see next in my poll.**


	9. Chapter 9

"We should probably call Mary, then," Ted pulled his phone out of his pocket after Dolph's announcement floored the entire group. One thing had become certain. If Luna had been alive the entire time, then she was hiding from her parents.

Dolph nodded, "make it face time. I want her to see this text."

Ted nodded as he opened the app and called up the leader of their group.

"Hey babe, isn't it almost time for school?" Mary raised her eyebrow as she came onto the screen.

"Yeah, but Dolph has some news," Ted nodded.

Dolph began showing the text around, which stated "I'm coming home soon." It was from an unknown number, and it wasn't like many people that they knew had left Merrigold. At least not without already giving them their new number.

"Luna?" Mary's eyes went wide.

"That's the only thing I came come up with," Dolph shrugged. "The news that Uncle Paul and Aunt Van we killed in a car accident just came out, then I get this text."

"Then I believe that it's safe to say that it was her," Mary nodded.

"Well, this is definitely better than my other theories," Alex bit her lip as she eyed her friends.

"I probably thought the same thing," Mary chuckled.

Dolph rolled his eyes, "I'm sure we all thought that she was dead after so many months."

"Sorry!" Mary put on a fake pout.

"It's fine," Dolph smiled. "I'm sure that we can all agree that the best thing to do here is just wait things out."

"Exactly," Mary nodded. "We go to the funeral and just play everything by ear. If she shows up, then we know. If it's someone else entirely... then well..." she shrugged.

"Is there anyone else it could be?" Zack raised an eyebrow.

"I figure that if anyone else had ideas, they would have spoken up by now," Mary pointed out.

"So I guess that means you'll be ready by tomorrow?" Ted asked with concern.

"I won't be at school, but I'll see everyone at the funeral," Mary nodded.

Matt was about to say something just as the first bell rang. Ted frowned, "we need to go."

"That's fine, Teddy Bear. Just come over after school," Mary smiled as she ended the call.

…

"You guys didn't have to come," Dolph looked to the Hardy siblings as everyone met in front of the funeral home the next day.

"We wanted to," Matt nodded, holding Amy's hand.

"You've all become good friends to us. We may have never known the Vachon family, but they were important to you," Jeff added.

Alex nodded as she leaned into Cody. "Plus, we _do_ live in their house."

"That's good enough for me," Dolph smiled as he watched Mary walk up with Ted and Levi.

Mary walked over to the group, hugging Dolph first. "I'm so sorry."

Dolph sighed as he returned the hug. "Maybe it won't be all too bad."

Mary nodded as everyone else greeted her and they went inside. Not much was said during the funeral, nor during the burial service. The group of friends waited until after everyone else left the cemetery. They stood around in silence as a hooded figure watched them from the trees. After a few minutes, Mary looked up to see the person, tilting her head. Just as Dolph was about to call out and run up to the person, Mary held her hand up, shaking her head as she looked around. She took a deep breath before calling out. "It's OK. Everyone else is gone."

The person slowly walked up to them, slowly taking their hood off to reveal their identity. A smile came across the person's face as they looked around to each of the young friends. "Well, the group almost looks exactly the same as it did before I left. Is there somewhere we can go that's a little less creepy?"

Mary nodded, "the pond in the clearing of the woods. We go there all of the time and are never disturbed."

The person who had approached them nodded, "then we'll meet there in two hours. Go home and have dinner, like everything is normal."

…

"Are you sure you're going to be able to get out to meet up?" Levi raised an eyebrow after he turned back to face Mary once she finished changing.

"Oh c'mon, little brother," Mary chuckled as she walked over to her window to look down at Ted, grinning. "This is me we're talking about," she climbed out the window, jumping down into Ted's arms.

Levi shook his head, walking out of his sister's bedroom and covered for her before telling their parents that he would be going out with friends for a couple of hours before heading out and meeting his twin sister and best friend. "They think that you're sleeping. Let's go."

Mary nodded as she lead them to the pond where everyone else was already waiting. "Now where's Luna?" Mary grinned as she sat on the low branch with Ted.

"Right here," Luna walked up to the group.

After a happy reunion and a quick introduction for those who hadn't known Luna in the past Mary took a deep breath, "so start talking."

"Well you're just as impatient now as you were when you were five," Luna shook her head. "But I guess that I do owe everyone an explanation. As you can tell it wasn't overly coincidental that I didn't return until after my parents were gone." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I had to escape. I had reason to believe that my parents were trying to have my boyfriend killed, and didn't seem to care if I went down with him."

"Are you serious?" Dolph swallowed hard, chocking back tears.

Luna nodded, "we barely made it out of town. Ever since then, I've just been hiding out all over the country."

"So are you coming back, or did you just check in to let us know?" Dolph sighed.

"I have to get my kids, but I'd like to move back to Merrigold," Luna took a deep breath. "I'm not with David anymore."

"We're not going to ask," Mary nodded. "So I guess that's it?"

Luna shrugged, "yeah, I'll figure it out."

"Well, we'll be here," Dolph smiled, hugging his cousin. "All of us."


	10. Chapter 10

"You don't have to do this," Ted looked to Mary as they stood outside of city hall.

"Yes," Mary nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yes, I do."

"Why? I love Emma, too, Maryanne. But why put yourself through this?" Ted pleaded with his friend.

"Because if I had said something last year, this would have never happened," Mary took a step toward the door before turning back to face Ted. "If I can do something to help now, I have to do it."

Ted sighed with a nod as he let Mary walk into city hall.

A month had gone by since Luna had revealed herself, and just as she began to get settled in, Randy Orton had struck again. Only this time, his target was Emma Dashwood, a perky, blonde freshmen, and unlike when he had made his move on Mary, he had succeeded this time around. After the incident with Dean Ambrose, Mary had become enlightened. The way that she had put herself out there around the boys in the school lead to those attacks. Ending things with Jeff was just the first step towards no longer leading the boys on, and giving the wrong idea on a regular basis. She was just a friendly person, she didn't know the consequences going into the dating scene.

After being announced by the secretary, Mary made her way into the mayor's office. She looked over to Sheriff Hemsley, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, you're here too."

"What can we help you with, Miss Williams?" Mayor Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley tilted her head.

"I'd like to make a statement against Randal Orton. Hopefully, I can be a character witness in Emma's case against him," Mary bit her lip, looking to the couple who ran the town.

Hunter shared a weary look with his wife before looking back to the teenager in the room with him. "Honestly, we felt like this wasn't the first time Orton tried to pull something like this. We heard that his family's attorney was trying to get his charges lessened by claiming that this was just a one time thing, and he was using poor judgment."

"Which we knew was crap," Stephanie continued. The older woman got up from behind her desk, walking around to Mary, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder. "But are you sure that you are really up for this? They may make you go into detail when they ask what he did to you."

Mary took a deep breath, nodding. "I have to do it. It's been long enough, and I will have all of my friends to support me."

"Well then," Hunter gathered his things. "Let's get down to the station and make this official."

Mary nodded as she followed the sheriff out of city hall, getting ready to head down to his office to make her statement. They passed Ted along the way, Mary momentarily taking his hand, biting her lip as she paused for a moment.

Hunter witness the interaction between the teens and smiled warmly. "C'mon, DiBiase. I have a feeling she's going to need you."

Ted nodded as they made the two block walk to the police station. He sat with them for the entire confession, squeezing Mary's hand during the more graphic parts of the story. He was in tears by the time that Mary had finished. "Now I know why John has been so messed up this entire time," Ted whispered as he wrapped his arms around Mary in a tight, comforting hug.

"Do you think that Cena will back you up?" Hunter looked up at Mary as he started filing her statement.

Mary nodded, "that ended their friendship. John has hated him ever since."

Hunter smiled, "then we're done here. If you're needed for the actual trial, we will notify you. Just go and relax. Go to Madison and catch a movie, or something." He then paused, looking to Ted, "take care of her, and keep her mind off of the stressful things."

Ted nodded as he and Mary stood up, heading out of the station. It was early on a Saturday. They would be able to catch a bus to Madison, spend a few hours in the bigger city, before having to catch a bus back to Merrigold.

…

The following Monday at school, Emma rushed to Mary as soon as the older teen walked up to the building. She wrapped her arms around the other girl. It had been nearly a week since she had been attacked by Randy, and she had to bed her parents to allow her to go back to school. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You shouldn't be thanking me," Mary sighed as she returned the hug. "I should be apologizing."

Emma pulled away to look the older girl in the eyes. "No, don't you dare think that. Sure, you should have said something sooner, but who's to say that he wouldn't be back around by now, and hadn't learned his lesson?"

"Yeah, Mare," Dustin slipped an arm around Mary's shoulders, leading her over to the group. "The important thing is that you finally said something."

"I just hope that you ladies understand that we're going to be all a little more protective than usual for a while," Matt smiled, pressing a soft kiss to Amy's lips.

Just as Mary was about to respond, Aksana walked up the stairs and glared at Dolph. "Come with Aksana."

Dolph gave his friends a pleading look as Aksana grabbed him by his shirt, dragging him inside.

Everyone shared a laugh, shaking their heads as they watched Dolph getting pulled away for an obvious booty call. Once everyone let out a sigh, Mary looked up. "You'd think she'd pick one of the douchebags for a sex toy."

Zack shrugged, "obviously, my boy has got something she likes."

"Can't argue with that," Maryse chuckled.

Mary checked the time on her phone, pouting. "It's almost time for first period."

"Are all of the girls covered for the day?" Matt looked around

Bayley bounded up the stairs, kissing Matt on the cheek. "We'll be using the buddy system all day. No worries."

"If any of your teachers have a problem with it, they can take it up with me," Mary stated with authority as she walked into the building, Ted right behind her.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a long week?" Jeff looked to his older brother with a sigh.

"Even longer, depending on how long the trial takes," Dustin patted the other boy's shoulder with a chuckle as he walked inside with Kaitlyn.

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**Apologies to Emma fans. I just picked one of the girls randomly. Don't hate me too much! Please R&amp;R! Then hop over to my profile to check out my poll. I have plenty of ideas for new stories, but I'd like some feedback on which one I will be doing them in. Thanks in advance!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So, as mentioned in the one-shot that I had just posted, I had been suffering from a sprained ankle, amongst other injuries, and that kept me from updating. However, I am better now. I was going to write one more chapter before this, but... I have decided that this will be it. See you at the bottom!**

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Mysteries had been solved and conflicts had been resolved. Mary and her friends fell into a steady level of comfort after everything that had occurred. There were still many things that had gone unspoken, but they continued on their lives without questioning anything. Five years went by before the group was all together once more. John was getting married to a woman he had met in college named Torrie Wilson. Everyone had gone to separate colleges and universities all over the nation, but they were all more than happy to meet up together in New York, where John was now playing for the Giants.

"And just to think..." Mary smirked as she walked up to John during the reception, "they thought that you were never going to get over me."

"You must be Mary Williams," John's new bride smiled, shaking her head.

"You took that well," Ted sighed as he slipped his arm around Mary's waist.

"I fully briefed her on all of my high school friends," John nodded. "I see you two finally got together."

"So this is Ted DiBiase?" Torrie raised an eyebrow at her husband.

Ted nodded, holding his hand out to shake Torrie's. "I know, it does seem odd that I am with someone like Mary. I get it all of the time."

"No, no," Torrie shook her head with a smile. "Opposites attract. Plus, John told me enough about her to totally see why you two are such a good match."

"So when are we getting together for your wedding?" John smirked as a he saw some of their other friends walk up to them.

"Well, we only just finished our junior year of college," Mary shrugged.

Ted nodded in agreement, "just like when we started dating, we're in no hurry."

"Were you even in high school when you started dating?" Mike chuckled as he walked up with his now wife, Maryse.

"Yes!" Mary laughed. "We became official the summer after our sophomore year."

"I thought that you knew, babe," Maryse laughed at her husband.

"Any other updates?" John looked around at the group of friends.

"Well, Amy and I have two kids," Matt pulled up his pictures on his phone to share with everyone.

"She's still on the road most of the time, right?" John raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the band is rather successful. She's around here somewhere," Matt looked around.

"We're actually expecting our first soon," Maryse grinned, running her hand over her stomach.

"That's awesome," Cody smiled as he and Alex walked up. "Congratulations."

"Anyone else?" Mary looked around. "Surprisingly, I don't already know everything."

"I'm engaged," Dolph walked up to the group.

"Oh yeah?" Mary smiled.

"Yeah," Emma walked up to them, showing off her engagement ring.

"Wow, I didn't see that coming," Mary laughed.

"Well, I did date a girl named Summer for a bit a couple of years ago, but she was simply too hung up on an ex," Dolph shrugged. "I ran into Emma last summer when I went to visit home, and we just clicked."

Emma smiled, "then there's a couple that is a little more expected." She pointed over to a corner where Bayley and Zack were looking extremely adorable as they shared a drink at a table.

"I've got another one for you," Cody grinned, pointing over to Dustin and Kaitlyn.

"I still can't believe that they are still together," Mary shook her head.

"So are Nattie and Tyson," Jojo nodded as she sat down next to Brad.

"I don't think that they're getting married any time soon, though," Alex Riley shrugged as he looked up as he sat next to his girlfriend.

"I do have a surprise for everyone, actually," Daniel stepped toward the friends.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Mary tilted her head.

Daniel then held out his hand as Brie Bella walked up next to him.

The entire group looked on in shock as their friend was no with one of their enemies from high school. It wasn't until Mary looked up, taking a deep breath that the silence was broken.

"Well, I always thought that you were cooler than your sister," Mary smiled, "no offense."

"None taken," Brie nodded. "To be honest, Nikki and I barely even speak anymore."

Mary nodded as Levi walked up with Kelly Blank, "I do have some more news for everyone who hasn't been home lately."

"What's that, bro?" Mary smiled.

"Three people we used to know are currently serving time in prison," Levi nodded.

"I bet I can guess who they are, too," Mary sighed.

Levi nodded, "Seth hasn't spoken to Dean and Roman in years. I heard that he's engaged to Layla El now."

"We always knew he'd eventually see the light," Mary nodded.

"I think that we all knew it was going to happen after what Dean did," Cody said, his eyes going wide a moment later. "Sorry Mary."

Mary shook her head, "it was a long time ago. I am long since over it."

"I think that we can all agree that Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose were heinous douchenozzles, who deserve whatever it is they are getting in prison," John nodded.

"You took they words right out of my mouth," Mary nodded. "Honestly, though, what they did made me stronger. Granted, I would have ended up with Ted no matter what."

"You really think so?" Ted looked over to his girlfriend.

"I know so, Ted," Mary smiled. "Everyone that deserves happiness will eventually get it."

"So does anyone know if Phil and AJ are still together?" Alex looked around.

"I heard that they have broken up a few times, and have had a few pregnancy scares, but are currently together," Mary nodded. "They couldn't make it, though."

John sighed happily, "we did have a rough year there."

"Everything turned out for the best, though," Mary smiled.

"For all of us," Dolph added. "Luna has actually gotten married since moving back to town."

"Everything could have been a lot crazier," Zack chuckled.

"Knowing us?" Mary laughed, nodding. "I think that it could have been a lot worse."

"Merrigold sucks that much," Daniel shrugged.

"Maybe, but it's home," Ted smiled, kissing Mary softly.

John nodded, "even for those of us who have moved on. I know that personally, I will always consider Merrigold home."

THE END.

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**So that's it. I know that I could have continued on with their school year, but I couldn't come up with enough ideas for another chapter. I hope that everyone enjoyed it, and hopefully, you will join me for my next story, which should be going up in the next few weeks, as most. Until then, take a trip over to my profile and check out my poll. I would love to see which of my ideas spark the interest of my readers. Until next time!**


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